California: Shuttle Endeavour Nears Home

The space shuttle Endeavour returned to its California roots on Thursday after a wistful cross-country journey that paid homage to NASA workers and former Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly.

“That’s my spaceship,” said Mr. Kelly, the Endeavor’s last commander, as the couple watched the shuttle loop over Tucson. His wife is recovering after being shot in a rampage last year. Before retiring from Congress, Ms. Giffords was a member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Later in the day, a Boeing 747 jet carrying Endeavour swooped out of the desert sky and glided down a concrete runway at Edwards Air Force Base, 100 miles north of Los Angeles, not far from where the now-retired shuttle fleet was assembled.

The shuttle and jumbo jet take off again at sunrise on Friday to make low, sweeping passes over Sacramento, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles. The Endeavor will be prepped for a slow ride to its final destination as a museum showpiece.

A version of this brief appears in print on September 21, 2012, on page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: California: Shuttle Nears Home. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe